Newport City Councilor John Florez held a meeting on Wednesday night at City Hall for the public to ask questions and gain more information about the proposed Fire/Rescue boat.

Among those on hand to answer questions (and ask questions) from the dozen or so citizens were Newport City Manager Joe Nicholson, Newport Fire Deparment Chief Connerton and Newport City Councilor’s Justin McLaughlin and John Florez.

The meeting and video is approximately 113 minutes in length.

Newport City Council is expected to vote on the fire boat at their next meeting, which is scheduled for August 24th.

Ryan Belmore is the owner and publisher of What's Up Newp. He took over the publication in 2012 and has grown it into a three-time Rhode Island Monthly Best Local News Blog (2018, 2019, 2020). He was named LION Publishers Member of the Year in 2020 and received the Dominique Award from the Arts & Cultural Society of Newport County the same year. He has been awarded grants for investigative and community journalism, and continues to coach and mentor new local news publications nationwide. Ryan...